Renew and refresh your old blog posts in 2017

If you’re like me and have some old blog posts that aren’t performing well in Google Search you can renew and refresh your old blog posts and get them back in front of Google and your readers.

You see unless people actually use the search button on your website they might never find the awesome stuff you’ve already written.

And sure those blog posts are a great reference for you, but what about the people who just can’t find them.

Renew and Refresh in 2017

Getting your old posts back on your front page is a great way for people to find them, including Google.

You see your home page is likely to have the highest domain authority and probably ranks best in Google Search on any given day.

For instance, I have one blog that often ranks for search terms on a targeted blog post. But instead of Google linking to the main article, I often find it’s ranked for those search terms on the home page.

The search term in the example below is “LEGO Minecraft 2017” and I’m on the first page of search results, see “Brick Flicks” but it links to my homepage and not the review I did on LEGO Minecraft 2017.

So what does this mean?

Well, a new blog post doesn’t have enough authority as soon as it’s published, and it takes time to build that authority, usually through sharing, linking and page views.

So even an excerpt on the front page, when optimized for search is enough to gain some attention from Google if done right.

Yes, I’m just as surprised as you, and yet pleased that my efforts towards keyword research are paying off, albeit not in the right places.

The three keys to ranking from an excerpt

Given most excerpts are only around 50-60 words long it’s important to get your keywords in early. Here are 3 places you should have your keywords if you want to rank from an excerpt.

1. Your Title – Yes, we all know this, but having your keywords as close to the front of a title helps even more.
2. Your Image – When naming your image, be sure to use a keyword or phrase, and always give your image some alt-text which also includes your keyword or phrase.
3. Your First Sentence – Remove all doubt and ensure your keyword or keyword phrase is included in the first sentence.

These tips are all just good SEO practices but you’ll be surprised how many people don’t follow them. Are you?

Next Steps…

So with this knowledge in-hand I’m going to update my old blog posts and change the published date so they appear on my frontpage again. Hopefully, this will give them a new lease on life and the update will be timely for older blog posts as I’ve learned so much more about SEO in the last year.

SEO concepts are constantly changing so never write something and expect it to be relevant for all time.  So take the time to review some of your older blog posts and then share them with your readers once again.

It’s possible that your new readers don’t even know they exist.

How often do you renew and refresh your blog content? Please share your experiences in the comments below.